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Mayor Karl Dean Asks Nashville Citizens To Make Martin Luther King Day, a "Day Of Service"

Mayor Karl Dean today issued a call today to all Nashville citizens to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 18, a “Day of Service” and to commit to serving the community year long. “This is an opportunity for all Nashville residents to join together in the spirit of Dr. King’s legacy to help shape and transform this city through service,” Dean said. “I call on all of our residents to join me in rolling up our sleeves on this holiday to work together to tackle the toughest problems facing our city from homelessness to crime.” Mayor Dean demonstrated his commitment to service by signing on as a member of the Cities of Service coalition earlier this year. On Monday, the mayor will join Hands On Nashville volunteers for an art service project at the Nashville Rescue Mission at 1 p.m. More than 80 participants from Allstate, which is sponsoring the event, the Youth Volunteer Corps of Nashville and the community will be painting four inspirational murals created by artist Anthony Billups on the walls of the homeless facility. Nashville residents can visit Serve.gov/MLKDay to find out about King Day service opportunities and design their own service projects. The site also features tool kits and other resources that will help area residents mobilize their neighbors to support a service project that addresses local challenges. Non-profit and service organizations can also use the site to register their projects and recruit volunteers. The Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service is led by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The effort to make the King Holiday a “day on, not a day off,” focuses on engaging Americans in service to honor Dr. King’s legacy. More than 1.5 million volunteers served in 13,000 projects last year that took place in all 50 states, including the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Founded in New York City on September 10, 2009, Cities of Service is a bipartisan coalition of mayors who have answered the historic Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act’s call to action. Cities – often at the front lines of our nation’s most pressing challenges – are perfectly positioned to work together to engage millions more volunteers in service and develop strategies to increase the amount and impact of local service efforts. Coalition members, by signing a Declaration of Service, will work together to lead a multi-year effort to expand community service and volunteerism in cities across the country.

For more information about Nashville’s participation in Cities of Service and opportunities to volunteer year long visit nashville.gov/mayor/volunteer.